Lingering on the edge of the crowd, a stocky, olive-skinned man with dark-brown curly hair, wearing dark sunglasses and a blue surgical face mask watched the police operation across the street. Clenching and unclenching his fists, he noticed Zoe making inquiries with the police officer.

“If it was the West Side Strangler,” Zoe continued, “that would mean he’s moving east because all the other murders happened further west. The first one was on West 95th Street and the second was on—”

“You really need to move along now,” said the cop, losing his patience.

Zoe let out an audible sigh for effect and moved over towards a small crowd of masked onlookers by the curb. The mob of looky-loos craned their necks to see what was happening while at the same time trying to stay socially distant from one another. Next to them, a slew of reporters lined up, all hoping to get their scoop for the evening news. Zoe stood on the outskirts of the crowd for a few minutes asking questions of fellow onlookers. Learning nothing significant, she walked over near the news crews. They’ll know something.

“You guys reporters?” she called out as she approached two men. One had a camera.

“That’s what it says on my paycheck,” said the young, handsome man without the camera, barely glancing at her as he focused on the police activity across the street.

“What’s happening here?” said Zoe casually. “I heard there was another murder.”

“Looks that way,” said the handsome man.

“I live around the corner and when I walked out of my building this morning I—”

“You live around here?” said the reporter turning towards her, now more interested.

“I live right over there on Central Park West,” said Zoe, pointing. “I can see the whole park from my living-room window.”

“Yeah?” The reporter reached into his pocket, pulled out a business card and handed it to Zoe. “I’m Tommy Devlin with The New York Echo. You hear any intel about this murder? Any of your neighbors talking? The cops aren’t saying jack. I’ve been reaching out to some of the locals. Got a tip this morning that it might be the work of the West Side Strangler.”

“Tommy Devlin? I read your article this morning right before I left my house. I was thinking the exact same thing about the Strangler,” said Zoe, studying the reporter’s face as he took his mask off for a second to adjust it.

“You read my piece today?” said Devlin, cracking a smile. “Like it?”

“Absolutely,” said Zoe. “I think you’re dead right on the West Side Strangler angle. I’ve been following the whole case very closely.”

“Yeah, well, that’s my theory,” said Devlin, “I gotta cover all the angles though.”

“Wait a second, I’ve seen you before,” said Zoe, squinting while examining his facial features more closely as he put his mask back on. “Do I know you?”